


All American Girl

by Fettywap



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 15:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6382882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fettywap/pseuds/Fettywap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey is pretty normal as far as nineteen-year olds go. That is, until she goes on her morning jog and happens to stop an assassination attempt on the President of the United States, Leia Organa, by tackling the shooter to the ground. If you count that as normal then, yeah, Rey is pretty normal.</p><p>(A story in which Rey happens to save the President's life and ends up falling in love with her grouchy, brooding son)</p>
            </blockquote>





	All American Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This is loosely based off a book I read by Meg Cabot of the same name back in middle school. I don't know what to say except it seems a bit like a circumstance Rey would get herself into?   
> My foray into writing is very recent (like, less than a week ago I'm talking, here) so I've done the best I know how at stringing the words together to make this story make sense!

Rey Niima had missed school six times in her life but only the last incident resulted in her being plastered all over the news. 

She sat in the hospital room she was sequestered in with a shock that had yet to fully fade ever since the beginning of the entire ordeal. Rey was alone at the moment - two armed secret service agents were looming just outside, though, so she still felt on edge. She gulped at the shoulders silhouetting the frosted glass door of her room. She was contemplating making a run for it out the window, but the fact that she was at the top floor of the huge building hindered the plan. Also, Rey noted as she turned and looked out the window, there were several dozen reporters crowding the main entrance and grassy field beneath the glass. 

She sighed wearily and tried to rest. As Rey recalled, the slew of nurses, doctors, and secret service agents coming into her room had incessantly crooned at her to lie down and nap. 

Her insistence that she had a “really really, like seriously major, exam in biology at noon,” had even elicited laughs. Rey rolled her eyes at herself. 

It's 7 in the morning I doubt I'll be sleeping. Even as she thought it, her eyelids felt droopy. Her body was coaxing her into a weariness that was so tempting she began to talk herself into succumbing. You do have painkillers in your system…broken ribs really hurt, you probably do need to sleep. To help them heal. And you have a bump on your head the size of a golf ball! That definitely warrants some sleep, Rey! Not to mention your broken arm!

Her eyes closed easily, and flew open an hour later with a nurse gently shaking her shoulder and the President of the United States standing in her doorway. 

 

Finn was scrubbing the bumper of a car more expensive than what he made in a year when his manager came skidding to a halt in front of him. The car wash empty - like, only one customer empty - so he looked up at the tall, blonde Phasma in a mix of worry and exacerbation. “Yeah?” 

The Amazonian-esque woman opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a few seconds before stuttering, “you haven't gotten any calls? Texts?”

Finn cocked an eyebrow. Phones weren't allowed on the floor of the detail shop, and admitting he'd even know if he'd received anything was baffling to him. “Uh….no?”

She shook her head minutely, seeming to realize her foolish question. “Come into my office, you need to see what's on the news.”

Finn followed her in a confused and amazed state - Phasma was practically a dictator and now she was asking him to watch the news? Instead of finishing a car that cost the owner $175 to get detailed?

When he saw his best friends senior year high school student ID picture on the screen, he was too shocked and horrified to remember to be grateful for his boss. 

On the radio on the way to the hospital - George Washington Memorial, for Christs sake, where'd they'd taken Reagan after he got shot - he learned that his best friend in the entire world had practically dove in front of a speeding bullet to save the president's life. 

They were saying things like, “bravest person in the country; the world, even,” and “a true patriot, someone with a strain of bravery and heroism we should all strive for,” and the host of the Mix FM was making jokes about how “I always say exercising early in the morning is for crazy people and it looks like I'm right because about two hours ago a freshmen in college was doing her morning jog and she jumped in front of a bullet to save President Organa’s life!” 

Even with every single news station broadcasting nothing but news of the attempted assassination and the teenager who'd stopped it, Finn still had no clue what had really happened. All he knew was that Rey didn't have any family, and he knew she'd probably been asked what family member she can call a million times and said, “oh, no one,” even though they'd been best friends for years and she was scared and hurt and alone. 

He was breaking all kinds of traffic laws, and parking was a nightmare because there were hundreds of people at the hospital. Finn would have been awestruck at the fact that all of them were reporters or regular people who'd showed up just to hold up a supportive sign in hopes of Rey seeing it, but panic was beginning to lap on the shores on his consciousness. 

He'd told the frazzled pair of nurses at the help desk he was here to see Rey Niima and one had rolled her eyes, “oh, you too?” while the other had glared at him, as if to say that his joke wasn't funny. 

Finn had to take a deep breath to calm his anxiety and panic to get to her before he spoke again. “No, no, I honestly know her. We live together - I'm her roommate, I should probably even be her emergency contact,” he whipped out his wallet to pull out his ID but still tried to keep his voice calm. 

Both nurses had ceased to even listen to him and he winced to hear three other people asking what room she was in. Of course they wouldn't believe him - she was the most famous person in the world at the moment. 

Finn wearily looked for an available surface to put up camp - he was sure Rey was being bombarded with attention and hadn't thought to give him a call yet, and when she did he wanted to be there. 

 

Ben Solo was in a meeting with the financial executive of Snoke Enterprises and members of the board from Hong Kong when he was all but dragged out of the conference room by a secret service agent.

His temper was almost always on a low broil at the surface of his mind, but practically any social interaction, especially having to do with his mother, brought it to a violent boil. 

“What the fuck, Hux?” He spat at his bodyguard. Hux had been by his side since his mother was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice when he was 14. Hux smirked, but continued to pull him along by the elbow, pressing a finger to his ear and murmuring, “bringing in Kylo now, sir.”

The reply was heard only by Hux and it made Ben simmer; not only was his codename the most embarrassing thing he'd ever heard but he was being “brought in?” What possible reason could there possibly be?

Hux was holding back a laugh and as soon as he'd pushed Ben into the private elevator, he explained calmly, “there's been an assassination attempt on your mother - about half an hour ago.”

Ben gaped at him, wishing he could remain stoic but failing miserably. “She's fine,” he explained with a calmness Ben envied, “the President and the First Gentleman are back at the White House.”

Hux turned to face the opposite side of the elevator, which opened up to the private garage in the sub basement of the New York City high rise. “I'm sorry, Ben, but you have to meet your parents there as soon as possible. Air Force One is already waiting for you.”

Ben had already whipped out his cell phone - it had been a battle of epic proportions with the head of his family's security detail to get a business phone when he'd first started at Snoke Enterprises- to check the news. 

Though the rhetoric of mainstream media often irritated him, Ben felt he had a good grasp on the generalities of what happened, and was completely floored by it. He didn't get along with his parents, but that wasn't to say he didn't love them. Hearing his mom had been shot at in the early morning hours that day was jarring to say the least. He felt a pang that made Ben itch to call her, even if only to hear her say, “of course I'm fine, dear.” Ben brushed off the sentiment, though. He was being forced to DC to see her, so the moment of neediness was fleeting.

What truly floored Ben was that his mom’s saving grace had not been a secret service agent, trained to protect her at all costs, but a scrawny nineteen-year old freshman who'd been out running. 

Though there was some dispute about more specific details, about three cell phone videos were being shown on every news outlet that showed almost the whole thing. 

He watched the first one, a clear picture but poorly angled frame of his parents waving to a crowd of people as they exited an SUV to enter a famous bakery. Who ever had taken the picture didn't get the girl - Rey, appeared to be her name - until she was already on the ground. The only bonus was that the shooter and the girl had been behind and to the right of the person filming, so when the shot rang out, the brave sole holding their phone angled the camera just in time to catch the shooter on the ground, arms flailing in the air, on top of a slight girl. One of her slim, tan arms was clutching the larger man around the front of his neck with a fistful of his jacket and the other - the one closest to the cameraman - was clearly broken and scrambling to find purchase on the pavement. Her legs were splayed wide beneath him, indicating she'd tried to tackle him from behind and latch on with all four limbs before he fell, and two slim calves were visible jutting out from beneath both of his hips. The rest of the shot was completely useless as chaos ensued - three agents threw themselves on top of the shooter and the gun was easily wrestled out of his hand. Trying to hear anything was hopeless. He'd pressed the volume increase button till the white bars maxed out and even held the phone up to his ears, but before the shooting the crowd was yelling for his mom’s attention and after the shot rang out, the only thing you could hear was screaming and the cameraman saying, “oh, shit! Oh, shit” over and over again. The only time he saw the girl was when an agent pulled her from beneath the shooter with two arms hooked under her armpits, but Rey’s face wasn't visible and the video shut off. 

The second video was shot from inside the bakery. A lucky employee who'd been dragged out of bed probably hours earlier to get ready for the “surprise stop - by” the president and first gentleman would make to the famous bakery was pressed against the window to take a video. From his angle, the only thing extra Ben saw was a full seven minutes of what happened after the first video cut off. After the agent roughly tugged the slight girl out from under the shooter, she'd been all but dragged closer to the window of the shop and surrounded by other agents who patted her down and bombarded her with questions. Since it was through the window, he couldn't hear anything but after only three minutes of what must have been intense questions and manhandling, Rey burst into tears. Until that point she'd had a completely stunned look on her pretty face - as if she was having an out of body experience. Ben figured that she probably felt like she was, plus the considerable amount of pain she'd been in must have not been helping. The sudden torrent of tears made him wince. Ben shuddered to think that, aside from how she must have been feeling, the most stressful and overwhelming moment of her entire life was now permanently documented in the annals of human history - he'd be willing to bet by that afternoon every American would watch this moment on their tv screens. 

The teenage boy him was suddenly very anxious to meet the girl in person. He found himself wishing that he had been there, and able to protect her from the crowd of people and the mean secret I service agents. He wished he'd been able to block her view from the cameras to have her overwhelmed breakdown from the public. The fact that he felt so strongly towards was jarring, but Ben still felt excitement bloom in his gut that he'd be seeing the lovely young woman in a matter of hours. 

The video stopped recording shortly after the agents took pity on her, realizing she clearly had no connection to the shooter and was visibly upset and injured. One of them swooped her up bridal-style while two others surrounded her on either side and bundled her into the back of an ambulance feet away. 

The third video caught the entire incident on camera. The person filming was two floors up in a building across the street and was holding their phone sideways for a wider angle. The news app on his phone explained that the first ten minutes of the video was clipped, and that the action started roughly fifteen seconds after the start.

Off to the right, he noticed Rey right away. The crowd was thin - only about ten people were there to wave to the President at the early hour she'd decided to go to the bakery. Rey was clearly not expecting to run into the presidential motorcade stopping for a donut and she mingled at the back of the small crowd, clearly caught between running back the other way or waiting and catching a glimpse of his mom. 

As he scanned his phone screen, Ben saw the man who was the shooter maneuvering where the crowd had slightly parted. He was standing right in front of Rey, and Ben watched in fascination as Rey stopped trying to raise up higher on her toes, swaying side to side for a better angle, and saw what no one else had. The man was reaching into his jacket, and in only a matter of seconds - maybe less - he was taking aim and Rey was backing up a step then hurling herself at him, clutching him with both arms and legs and yelling, “gun! He's got a gun!” 

The man’s arm holding the gun swung upwards with the momentum of falling back towards the added weight of Rey, and the shot rang out harmlessly straight into the air. Ben shuddered - if Rey had shown even a millisecond of hesitation, the trajectory of that bullet would have at the very least clipped a civilian. The man fell over backwards and Ben winced as he saw Rey fling an arm out behind her - he already knew her arm would be broken by that reflex. 

By the time he'd watched every video in its entirety, he was being ushered into Air Force One and “debriefed” over his mom's status. 

The plane had great wifi, so Ben mostly ignored the head of security chirping through speaker phone and confided to scroll through the several hundred news articles about the shooting. There was almost no information about the shooter himself - all that was being released was that the man was an overweight, middle-aged white man who was unemployed and had a history of untreated mental illness - Ben rolled his eyes at learning that. No doubt that would become his mother's newest talking point.   
There was, however, a shit ton of information about the heroic girl who'd stopped him. As Ben read about her he felt an unfamiliar pang in his chest - Rey was nineteen (barely) and on a full-ride track and field scholarship to Georgetown. 

She was abandoned at five-years old and essentially grew up as a ward of the state. “Anonymous” sources had leaked the information and Ben pitied the now-wealthy soul who'd done it. They'd surely be punished for leaking information like that out. The pang in his chest grew in intensity to learn that Rey had no family, and clearly had succeeded beyond all measure in the face of the worst kind of adversity. The head of security had hung up by the time Ben decided he could no longer read any more about the young girl. 

I'll be meeting her today, I'm sure. Mom and dad would move out of the White House before they allow me to skip out on that little reunion. 

 

Rey’s eyes flew open and only a handful of inches away from her face was a beaming nurse. She chirped, shrilly and overenthusiastically, “you have a couple of visitors, Rey!” 

Before she could even sit up fully, she heard a familiar voice say softly from the doorway, “oh we've woken her! Maybe we should…” 

“No, no, madam President, we need to check on her head anyway!” In her grogginess, she was still unsure of what the words she was hearing meant in any way. Rey nearly punched herself in the face when she tried to use her broken and casted arm to rub at her eyes. When her good arm was done aggressively rubbing at her eyes with a fist, she found herself wishing she had actually knocked herself out with her bad arm. 

Hovering in the doorway was the President and her husband, nervously smiling at her. The nurse was flitting about, anxiously saying things like, “I'll just quickly do her vitals and I'll get out of your hair! Oh I just can't believe this!” 

Rey struggled to even say a word and stupidly found herself with burning eyes again as they watered up. She'd never felt so overwhelmed in her entire life, and the massively profound presence in her room was making her feel things she couldn't even describe. Rey swallowed heavily, wishing the ground would rise around her and drag her back down. 

“Rey,” the president murmured, walking forwards, “I don't think a ‘thank you’ would suffice but I can’t begin to know what else I could say to you.”

Her husband, the first gentleman, she corrected herself, stepped forwards to and the nurse slipped around them, leaving and shutting the door. There was only one secret service agent in the room now, standing with his back against the door and arms folded across his chest. 

“I-I…” Rey trailed off and tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed to stand - she felt like she should be standing in the presence of the leader of the free world - but the ache in her ribs and head froze her in place. 

Han Solo smiled at her in his trademark way and practically scolded her. “No, no, please don’t get up.” Rey paused and forced herself to learn back against the pillows again. He approached her with an arm around his much smaller wife’s shoulders. “How are you feeling, Rey?”

Rey could have slapped herself she felt so stupid, but she managed to say, “I feel… I feel great.”

She watched as the two people in front of her exchanged a look, and to her surprise the President motioned to the side of Rey’s bed, silently asking permission to sit. Even though she didn't need to, Rey found herself scooting over several inches to allow for room. The thought of any part of her actually touching any part of the President was too much for her to handle. Han Solo walked around to the other side of the bed and Rey felt close to tears again. 

Leia Organa was regally turning to face her from her place at the foot of Rey’s hospital bed and Han Solo was standing on the other end, a hand on his wife’s shoulder. Both of their eyes were glued to Rey’s face and she blanched back and forth between them. 

“Are you sure you feel okay? Your doctor told us about your injuries,” Leia said, concerned and motherly in ways Rey had never experienced. 

“Y-yes. I mean… It hurts a little. But, I'm really fine.” To her complete and utter humiliation, Rey felt the tears she’d been desperate to hold back begin to slip down her cheeks. Her throat burned with the effort to keep from sobbing and her entire face felt hot. She heard Leia stand and walk closer to her, laying a comforting arm around her shoulders and sitting by Rey’s hips. “Oh, darling girl. Don't cry!” 

“I'm - I'm,” she cursed herself for her stuttering and hiccuping, “really okay. I just feel overwhelmed. I'm sorry.” 

“Don't apologize, Rey,” Han Solo walked closer as well and hesitantly touched her ankle under the covers. “We should have waited, let you rest.”

Leia coaxed her into taking deep breaths, handing her tissues she heard her order for Han to grab, and rubbing circles over her upper back. She gently shushed her, murmuring kind words as she sucked in stuttering breaths and wiped at her nose like an imbecile. 

Finally, once she seemed calm enough to speak using words people like the President deserved to hear, Rey straightened to clear her throat. 

Leia was smiling at her and she smiled back and aimed for lightheartedness. “Thank you, madam President.”

The next half hour was a somewhat smooth ride. She had pulled her legs into a criss-cross at some point and Leia and Han had found purchase on the empty space that left. Rey wasn't surprised by this, but they were the easiest people she'd ever spoken with. They were kind, funny - especially Han - and so easy going all of the nervousness flooded out of her. After an awkward hug and more heartfelt thank you, they'd slipped into more casual conversation. 

Rey told them about her classes, how school was going, which professors she liked and finally about her friends. “Oh!” She'd cried out, “Finn! He's my best friend - one of my only friends, actually, and I'm sure he's worried sick. Is there - I should -” 

The secret service agent at the door spoke up, smooth and assertive, “Finn Cooper, twenty-one, you live with him?”

Rey nodded, trailing off and staring like a buffoon. 

“He's been here for an hour - we were waiting to confirm that you were friends. I apologize, miss Niima. We’ll bring him to you right away.” The agent turned towards the wall and spoke quietly with a finger to his ear. 

“You've been alone since you got here, Rey?” Han asked and the pity and surprise in his voice made her shrink into her pillow. 

“I don't… I don't have anyone.”

“Then we’ll-” Han was speaking with the door opened again, and Rey assumed he was going to offer for them to leave, but another agent appeared and announced, “I apologize for the interruption, ma'am - sir, but your son has arrived.” She felt herself bristle at the lack of acknowledgement for her getting interrupted as well. 

Before Rey could so much as blink, the vaguely familiar frame of Ben Solo appeared in the doorway. She had seen pictures of him at big events - his mother getting sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice, and then President. There were pictures of him standing behind his parents at rallies during her campaign, in the background of important speeches, and walking down the steps of Air Force One. He’d never lived in the White House - as far as Rey knew, anyway - and had been an adult for his mother’s Presidency. No one ever talked about Ben in relation to his mom and dad, only as the elusive business mogul who’d amassed a fortune separate from the Organa-Solo name. 

 

Ben was already irritated at the absolute cluster fuck surrounding and filling the hospital. There was a mass of people there to see the girl, and it made him want to punch something. Mostly him and the two agents winging him were left to walk emptied out corridors, but the entire building was practically vibrating under the weight of excitement. 

That poor girl probably didn't know or even understand the magnitude of what she'd done and the notoriety surrounding it, and it made him massively uncomfortable. Two other agents that met him them on the Tarmac escorted him through private hallways of the hospital towards the girls room - his parents had insisted the entire family go to her. 

What he was not expecting, however, was to immediately feel a foreign tug on his heart at the site of the slight nineteen-year old. She was thin, delicate looking and her tanned and freckled skin was slightly shiny with a sheen of sweat. Her hair was pulled into a bun that looked heavily slept-in; wisps of baby hairs and curls hung around her forehead, cheeks and neck . Rey was sitting back against the headboard of the bed, propped up on an amount of pillows that he bet they only gave to really important patients. Her legs were criss-crossed, and in the place on the bed where they should be stretched out sat both of his parents. It was startling, to say the least. Having them so intimately sitting with the young girl would be strange even if they were just Leia Organa-Solo and Han Solo, but they were also the President and First Gentleman. 

Ben stepped forwards, hardly bothering to stop the look of confusion on his face. His mom had one leg pulled up and curled on the bed, and the other dangling off to the side, while his dad was sitting sideways on it. Ben’s mom was holding Rey’s injured hand - well, fingers, as they stuck out of the plaster cast. 

Han had his arms crossed, and turned his body awkwardly to look at his son. “What's this I hear about you getting shot at?”

Leia smiled, but a warning look in her eyes made Ben bristle. He was nearly thirty - way too old to be scolded. “Luckily that didn’t happen, thanks to Rey,” Leia turned back to the girl, “Rey, this is my son, Ben Solo.”

Rey waved to him, smiling slightly and showing off two perfectly straight and white rows of teeth. Ben had to bite the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from smiling back too big. “We had to fight our way to get up here, Rey. I think all of Virginia is out there waiting for you.”

Han dismissed this with a wave of his big hand. “Don’t scare her, Ben. I think Rey here is already overwhelmed.”

“Maybe that’s because you’ve taken up occupancy of her hospital room and called the cavalry to get me here, too, dad.” 

He watched Rey swallow, transfixed by the slender column of her throat as it moved. “No, no… It’s fine. I can’t believe I’ve been talking to you both for so long. I’m sure you’re busy..”

“Don’t be silly. We’re worried about you,” Leia practically cooed at Rey. Ben would have been annoyed at the entire situation if he didn't suspect his parents had been entranced by the girl as he had. Though he had been annoyed his entire life at his parents relentless dedication to democracy and “liberty and justice for all,” he somehow doubted the kindness and compassion they were exhibiting towards the teenager was out of a need for political gain. 

Ben mused to himself that his mother would easily win a re-election after today. What could be more perfect than surviving an attempted assassination, and her savior being a beautiful embodiment of the American Dream and perseverance to gain public support? He also knew, being as hyper-aware of public opinion as his mom, that Leia Organa already knew this, and all of the worry and kindness she showed towards Rey was sincere. 

Han stood to stand by Ben. “You’re friend will be here soon, so we’ll get out of the way.”

Leia stood but leaned over to hug Rey gently. Ben didn't miss Rey’s wince at the pull of her muscles to twist into the embrace. “For the time being you’ll have a security detail with you at all times, Rey. They can reach myself and Han any time.” 

Rey wasn’t given time to protest, because the head of Leia’s security was opening the door and ushering the couple out. Ben murmured, “just a minute,” completely on impulse. 

A terse nod was followed by the gentle click of Rey’s hospital door closing. “Rey. I’ve been anxious to meet you.”

He had rendered her speechless, apparently, because all she did was stare at him with her big eyes. “I was worried my parents didn’t fully express the reality of the situation you’re in.”

His words were spaced out over several pauses, but Rey stretched her legs out and almost surged forwards off the bed. “What do you mean? Er-your parents - Mrs - er, I mean, the President and -”

Ben sat in the chair at the side of her bed that neither of his parents had chosen to sit in. “Your life is never going to be the same. I doubt you’ve been watching the news or looked at your phone or checked your email, but I can assure that you’ll be even more overwhelmed when you do.” He was met with her speechless gaze once again, so Ben continued. “I was worried they didn't explain that to you. And I see they haven’t.”

“Well… That’s not their job, is it? However bad it is, I’ll figure it out.”

“I’ve no doubt that you will, Miss Niima. But I don’t want you leaving this hospital unprepared. I know you’re… Very independent. It may be difficult to manage on your own.”

Rey rubbed at her eyes with her good arm - Ben could tell that she was exhausted and not taking what he was warning her of seriously. “Perhaps now is not the best time to talk about it. I’ve been told you’ll be held for observation over night?”

The girl nodded sleepily, slowly sinking back into her pillows. “Then you’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to see for yourself. I suggest you watch the news to get a grasp on the level of notoriety around your name.”

He imagined that Rey was trying her best to be polite and stay attentive, but that the intimidation of having a famous person in her presence added onto the ridiculous situation was wearing her thin. Ben stood, and stuck his hand out for her to shake. She had to stretch slightly, and Ben regretted the motion - her ribs needed rest and he had caused her undue pain, but he grasped her small hand in his. “I can’t tell you what a privilege it has been to lay eyes on you, Miss Niima.”

Rey shivered, she hoped unnoticeably, and tried not to think too much into the gentle stroke of his thumb over her skin. “I think most would say I am the privileged one. But, thank you.”

Ben left, walking with purpose and an even stride out of her room. With him, two secret service agents followed and she was left alone again. Two twin shoulders still silhouetted her door, and Rey sat back against her pillows. 

She was growing too tired to do anything much besides blink, but before she could suck in a deep breath and force her body to move into a reclining position, the shoulders parted and the door opened again with a bang. 

Rey plastered on a smile, thinking it would be the President again or perhaps another member of her family, but to her relief, Finn rushed through the doorway. 

“Rey!” He exclaimed, shoving past a secret service agent and reaching for her. She watched him stutter as he hesitated between hugging her to him and not touching her at all. Finn was over-affectionate and extremely motherly - the two sides were at war, so Rey reached out to him with both arms to decide for him. Finn eagerly wrapped an arm around her back and cupped the back of her head with his other hand. “Oh, Finn,” Rey sobbed into his shoulder, “you wouldn’t believe this day!”

“If everyone in the world wasn’t talking about it, I wouldn’t. Geeze, Rey, you have no idea how worried I’ve been!” Finn ran his hands down her arms, finding the cast and lifting it to brush against his chest. “I think you could sell this on eBay in a few months for, like, a million bucks. I’m serious.” 

Rey let him hold the cast and wiped at the tears in her eyes with her free hand. “The president and Han Solo asked if they could sign it! But, we couldn’t find a marker.”

“Oh, we’ll talk about that later. You look about two days past exhausted, Rey.” He braced her in between her shoulder blades and let her ease back against the pillows. Rey warmed under the attention and worry he was blanketing her with, and let Finn tuck the sheet and blanket around her shoulders. “Try and sleep. I’m not leaving even if Leia Organa herself shows up and asks me to.”

She sighed against the palm he was pressing to her cheek, “She was so nice. She wouldn’t do that.”

Finn shushed her, smoothing hair out of her forehead and pressing a kiss where his fingers brushed against her skin. “Not to the girl who saved her life.”

Those are the last words she heard before Rey fell asleep, breaths evening out into puffs.

**Author's Note:**

> To anyone who cares, I'm planning for this to be two chapters long, only. I'll be honest, I haven't written a word of the next one, though. Maybe some nice comments will motivate me :)


End file.
